MATHEMATICS SUPPORT CENTRE

Title: Brackets and Quadratics.

Target: On completion of this worksheet you should understand how expanding brackets can lead to quadratic expressions. A polynomial expression is an algebraic expression involving positive whole number powers of a letter. Example. 4 x 6 + 3x 5 + 7 x 4 3x 3 + 11x 2 + x 5 is a polynomial. The coefficient of xn is the constant in the term involving xn. Example. The coefficients of x6, x3 and x in the example above are 4, -3, and 1 respectively. Note that the sign stays with the coefficient. Exercise. State the coefficients of y4, y2 and y in the following polynomials. 1. y 7 + 4 y 5 2 y 4 + 7 y 3 y 2 + 3 y + 1. 2. 3 y 5 4 y 2 +
y + 4. 2
1 .) 2

Exercise. Expand the brackets and hence write these quadratic expressions in the form ax 2 + bx + c, where a, b and c are just constants. 1. x(3 x 2). 2. 3 x( 4 x +8). 3. x(6 2 x). 4. ( x + 4)( x 8). 5. (2 x +3)( x + 6). 6. ( x +8) 2 . (Answers:
3 x 2 2 x, 12 x 2 + 24 x, 2 x 2 + 6 x, x 2 4 x 32 , 2 x 2 +15 x +18 , x 2 +16 x + 64 .)

(Answers: -2, -1, 3; 0, -4,

It is sometimes useful to be able to do the reverse process, which is put a quadratic expression into the form of two linear expressions multiplied together. We will make some observations that will enable us to do this with greater ease. Exercise. Expand the brackets and write the quadratic expressions in the form ax 2 + bx + c. 1. ( x + 2) 2 . 2. ( x +3) 2 . 3. ( x + 4) 2 . 4. ( x 2) 2 . 5. ( x 8) 2 . (Answers: x 2 + 4 x + 4, x 2 + 6 x + 9,
x 2 + 8 x +16 , x 2 4 x + 4, x 2 16 x + 64 .)

A quadratic expression is a polynomial that has 2 as the highest power of its variable. Example. 1. 3x + 4 is not a quadratic expression. 2. 4x3 + 3x2 + 2 is not a quadratic expression. 3. 9x2 + 3x + 4, -2x2 + 8, 8x2 - 3x, 6x2 are all quadratic expressions Sometimes we will not immediately be able to tell that an algebraic expression is quadratic because it contains brackets. However when we expand the brackets it becomes clear. E.g. x( x + 4 ) = x 2 + 4 x.

C. Leech, Coventry University, June 2000.

Exercise. In the previous exercise what did you notice about the coefficient of x2 and x and the units? (Answers: The coefficient of x2 was always 1. The coefficient of x was twice the units in the bracket. The units were the square of the units in the bracket.)

Exercise. Expand the brackets and write the quadratic expressions in the form ax 2 + bx + c. 1. ( x + 2)( x +3). 2. ( x +3)( x +5). 3. ( x + 4)( x + 6). 4. ( x 2)( x + 4). 5. ( x 8)( x 7). (Answers: x 2 + 5 x + 6, x 2 + 8 x +15 ,
x 2 +10 x + 24 , x 2 + 2 x 8, x 2 15 x + 56 .)

The quadratic expressions involved in the last two exercises are called perfect squares. This is because they can be written as the square of a linear expression. Exercise. Expand the brackets and write the quadratic expressions in the form ax 2 + bx + c. 1. ( x + 2)( x 2). 2. ( x +3)( x 3). 3. ( x + 4)( x 4). 4. ( x 2)( x + 2) 5. (3 x 8)( 3 x +8). 6. ( 2 x 1)( 2 x +1). (Answers: x 2 4, x 2 9,
x 2 16 , x 2 4, 9 x 2 64 , 4 x 2 1.)

Exercise. In the previous exercise what did you notice about the coefficient of x2 and x and the units? (Answers: The coefficient of x2 was always 1. The coefficient of x was the units in the brackets added together. The units were the units in the brackets multiplied together.)

Exercise. In the previous exercise what did you notice The quadratic expressionsabout the coefficient of x2 and the units? involved in the last two exercises are called the difference of two (Answers: The coefficient of x2 was always squares. This is because they can be written the term subtracted as the square of one algebraiccoefficients of x in the brackets multiplied together. from the square of another algebraic term. The units were the units in the brackets multiplied together.)

Exercise. Expand the brackets and write the quadratic expressions in the form ax 2 + bx + c. 1. (2 x + 2)( 3 x + 3). 2. ( x +3)( 5 x +5). 3. ( 2 x + 4)( 5 x + 6). 4. (3 x 2)( 5 x + 4). Exercise. 5. (7 8)( 4 x 7 In the previous exercisexwhat did you).notice about the coefficient of x2 and x and the units? (Answers: 6 x 2 +12 x + 6, 5 x 2 + 20 x +15 , 2 10 x 2 + 32 x x2 was always (Answers: The coefficient of + 24 , 15 x + 2 x 8, the square of the coefficient x +56 .) 28 x 2 81 of x in the brackets. The coefficient of x was always 0. The units were the square of the units in the bracket.)

C. Leech, Coventry University, June 2000.